Chapter Ten: The Fight

By

LordHelen

Sonic spent the next morning in her room, reading her book. She had the week off to recover, so she took advantage of it and did nothing. She ate lunch at noon and read for about an hour when there was a knock at the door. Sonic stood and opened it, peering out. It was Amy.

"Hey, Amy. What's up?" Sonic opened the door all the way and Amy tackled her. Sonic kicked and screamed as Amy held her down, overpowering her with enough strength to lift a huge hammer. Finally, she had Sonic tied to her bedpost. "Amy, stop! What are you doing?" Sonic cried.

"Orders from Mistress. Bring Blue alive." Amy answered. Sonic then saw that Amy's eyes were blank, staring into emptiness. Then she realized something…Blue? That's what Marianna…

"Blue? You mean Marianna…" Sonic never finished as Amy clapped a hand over her mouth and nose. It took two minutes, but Sonic finally passed out from lack of oxygen. Amy tested her pulse and, satisfied that she was alive, began to drag her away.

"Shadow sat on his bed, throwing his ball at the wall and catching it when it came back, repeating it over and over. He was thinking of Marianna, Sonic…how did it get so complicated? Wasn't Marianna out of his life? Why had she caught up with him? A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in." Shadow called, not even bothering to look who it was when she walked in. Marianna scowled at this.

"Shadow?" Marianna called. Shadow stiffened, turning to glare at her. She waved at him.

"Anyone but you is allowed in. Get out!" Shadow returned to tossing his ball. Marianna sighed and held her arms up, black tainting her finger tips as she began chant.

"Black magic I possess, black magic I own, seep into the mind of this lesser! No harm may be done, but sleep is what I desire of you! Go, black magic!" Shadow looked up as the black started to float to him.

"Marianna, that is dangerous! Marianna, don't do…" Shadow didn't finish as the black floated into his nose and he suddenly fell against his pillow, sleeping soundly, washed in blissful darkness.

"Goodnight, my Shadow. Just wait…Sonic will die!" Marianna shot a puff of black at Shadow, who then floated into the air and followed her, sleeping still.

At exactly two o clock, Shadow woke up. His eyes were blurry momentarily, and the sun was bright and unwelcome after the darkness. He tried to remember what happened, and then it hit him like a punch in the gut. Marianna…dangerous magic…uh oh. He looked up and saw that Marianna stood on top of an unnatural cliff, not having been there before. And kneeling in front of her, staring down hopelessly at him, was Sonic. She was tied with grey rope.

"Marianna! What are you doing?" Shadow called. Amy tightened her hold on him as he made to stand.

"I am saving our love, Shadow! This…mutt is standing between us, so she will die and we can be together again!" Marianna answered.

"No! Stop, come down! Don't!" Shadow called, desperately trying to stand against Amy's strength.

"We must begin! Black magic, descend from me, I am your vessel! Cut the ground; rip it open to the core! This girl must be killed, and you will perform it!" Marianna cried. Suddenly, she threw back her head, her eyes going pitch black. She opened her mouth and screamed, and a crack broke open the ground, straight to the core. Marianna kicked Sonic and Shadow watched her until she passed out of view, far beneath the earth.

"Sonic! NO!" Shadow yelled, thrashing against Amy. She finally let him up. Shadow stood and fell to his knees, knowing no one could survive that. Sonic was gone…

Meanwhile, as Sonic fell, she heard a scream, but her ears were roaring too much to decipher it. Suddenly, she saw Queen Amen as before, only now she was a picture in fire.

"Sonic, you know what you must do. Look inside yourself, find your strength! If you don't rise to your power, than you will perish, along with all you hold dear!"

"I…I don't know how…" Sonic felt tears roll down her cheeks, hugging herself. She seemed to be suspended in midair, no longer falling to the lava below.

"You know how! You have it in you!" Amen reached out a hand, almost touching Sonic. "You know how, you just need to see."

"See…" Sonic whispered, looking into Amen's hand. She saw Shadow, lying dead upon the ground. "No…No!"

"Find your power, and you will save him! Find your true self, Sonic!" Amen vanished into the air and Sonic began to fall again. As heat increased, Sonic ran over the picture in her mind, her rage growing. Suddenly, she yelled and again a flash of light appeared.

Shadow was still staring at the gap when, suddenly, there was a white flash and he was blinded momentarily. When he regained his vision, he saw Sonic floating in midair, her fur blowing a light blue. Marianna growled, her dark eyes becoming blacker. Her fur had an aura of black to it as well.

"You live! How…how have you escaped death?" Marianna suddenly gasped, looking Sonic up and down. "No! It cannot be you! You cannot be the Light Wanderer!"

"You know of what I am?" Sonic asked, her voice ringing as many. Her call was loud and important, and Marianna hissed in answer. Black against white, light against dark. Sonic's voice burned her.

"I know of you, yes, but I will not fall! I will kill you, if I have to blow up the world to do it!" Marianna held her arms apart and her hands glowed fiercely black, a cloud surrounding them.

"Sonic, don't! She's using very dangerous magics!" Shadow called, standing up. Marianna glared at him.

"Restrain him! Do not allow him to come!" Amy obeyed, tackling him. Sonic turned and raised a hand, and Amy screeched and recoiled, as if burned.

"Do not come closer, Shadow." Sonic told him, turning to Marianna again. Shadow shook his head, taking a step forward. Sonic snapped her hand back and Shadow was suddenly blown off his feet, as if by a wind, and landed several feet away. "Stay Back!"

"Yes, do not interfere! I will kill all who get in my way!" Marianna raised her arms, ready to fight. Sonic suddenly glowed with a new brilliance, enhanced, as if more power had entered her.

"This will be a fight to remember!" Sonic flew and collided with Marianna, who spiraled backwards at the collision. Sonic then shot a wind that sent Marianna hurtling towards the ground. Marianna screamed like a bat and suddenly, Sonic's wind evaporated and she flew up, level with the blue hedgehog.

"You will die!" Sonic made no answer, knowing that it only wastes precious energy yelling at each other. Marianna, enraged the silence, shot to her and shot black snakes from her hands, which wrapped around Sonic so she couldn't move. Marianna then formed a large, black ball. Sonic spread her arms and the snakes fell limp, dissipating into the air. She dodged the ball, which collided with the ground, blowing a large crater in the ground. Shadow was frozen as rubble cascaded down around him.

Sonic formed a blue ball of energy and threw it at Marianna, who caught it. Screeching as the light burned some dark out of her, Marianna threw it back at Sonic, who absorbed it. Marianna screamed in rage, and tackled the blue hedgehog, trying to cancel her power with dark. When it failed, she let go and threw hurtling balls of black at her. Sonic dodged them, seeing that both she and Marianna seemed to have almost equal power. She realized there would not be a winner, unless…

"Shadow." Sonic flew down to the black hedgehog. She stared into his eyes and smiled. "I'm so sorry. I should have believed in your story, not hers. But we can't be happy at that. I'm sorry. Goodbye, Shadow the Hedgehog, I will miss you."

"What?" Shadow asked, watching her fly back up to Marianna. He watched in confusion as she grabbed Marianna and started to glow with such brilliance as never before. Then he realized what she was doing. "Sonic, no!" Shadow cried, standing. But he was too late. Sonic exploded in the air, Marianna with her. Marianna fell from the sky, only part of her blown up. But Sonic would never fall. Sonic was gone. "Sonic, no…"

"Do not cry, child. You have yet to lose her." A feminine voice from behind spoke, kind and sympathetic. Shadow turned and saw a lovely red hedgehog with blue eyes and a black belly.

"Who are you?" Shadow wiped his tears off his cheek, suddenly suspicious. The woman laughed.

"I am an old witch. I have a treat for you that might help your turmoil. I can bring one of these two hedgehogs back. Sonic or Marianna. I warn you though, if your heart does not choose the right one, the world will fall in years to come."

"Really? Wow, that's so nice…well; I don't know…Marianna was so cruel, I cannot see her being good for the world. I would say Sonic." Shadow watched as the woman chanted in some foreign tongue and disappeared.

"Enjoy your gift, my son." Shadow's head snapped up. What had she said? But he forgot all about it when he saw Sonic fall from the sky, landing in the crater. He ran over and saw she stilled glowed blue, though it was slowly dying out. He reached her and she stared at him.

"Shadow, what happened?" Sonic whispered. Then she closed her eyes and the glow was gone.

"Sonic? Sonic? Sonic!"

Sonic opened her eyes and felt the pillow beneath her head. She saw her regular puke walls, and was never happier to see them. But why was she seeing them? Hadn't she killed herself to save Shadow's life? Then she noticed that Rouge, Blaze and Cream were staring at her.

"Hi. Is there something wrong?" Sonic sat up and they hugged her all at once. Blaze was laughing.

"Oh, Sonic! Shadow told us the whole story, we were so worried! You've been in a coma for two weeks!" Cream trilled on about how Sonic could have died. Then Shadow walked in.

"Hey, guys, let's go get Sonic some lunch." Rouge suggested pointedly, leading them out of the room. Shadow watched them go, then he turned to Sonic.

"Shadow, what happened? Why am I alive?" Sonic asked, watching him sit by her where Rouge was sitting.

"Are unhappy about that?" Shadow asked. Sonic started to reply, but he beat her to it. "A witch helped me out. She said she could revive you, so I told her to do it. I think you overused the Light Wanderer though, and that's why you were in a coma."

"Yeah maybe. By the way, I'm sorry. I forgot that you said she was crazy. I should never have believed that creepy little thing!" Sonic seemed enraged to think of it.

"It's okay, Sonic. I think we should forget about that, for now. She won't be able to hurt us anymore." Shadow pressed Sonic's necklace that he had given her into her hand. Sonic smiled.

"Us…she can't hurt us." Sonic kissed Shadow, hugging him with joy. And she believed him. Marianna would never hurt them again.

"Hello, are you there? Yes, I wish to hire you. Marianna failed, as you predicted. I should have never let her out of that facility. Who? Why, Sonic the Hedgehog, of course. Yes, I want her dead."